Well, it's been a week of things I've never done before - and tonight, without planning it, I did something else new: I went back to a story that wasn't working, something I wrote about 6 months ago, to do some revising, and instead of just sitting there and reading and tweaking, alongside the story I opened a Sticky Note which is a great feature of Linux, the operating system I use (see left). And then I took notes on my story as I read it, exactly as if I was critiquing someone else's story.Now, isn't this always the aim of a writer, to be able to see your own work as if through someone else's eyes? I know that I am a good critiquer, I have worked on these skills, learned them from many writing workshops: how to really see a story deeply, take it apart, from structure to language to point of view to character.
But - I have never ever been able to really crit my own work, even with a much older story - I am always too attached to it, too in love with the language. Tonight I was slashing it! Writing notes like
- declare - makes character sound unlikable
- too writerly - kill it
- stilted
- oh too clunky!
It went from 1223 words that made me mostly cringe to 443 words that I actually am rather happy with.
Plot-wise, it now gives away far less, and now I am now not at all sure what is happening. And this is always the way I prefer to write. I hadn't "noticed" that the first drafts were way to "obvious", with some really really cheesy devices going on. How could I?! Well, it doesn't matter. We all do it. The main thing is to do it, see it, take it out. Phew. A good night's work - 800 negative words gained!
